WILLIAMS
,
JOHN LLOYD
(
1854
-
1945
),
botanist and musician
;
b.
10 July, 1854
at
Plas Isa
,
Llanrwst
, one-time home of
William
Salesbury
(
DWB
, 898)
, the eldest of seven children of
Robert
and
Jane
Williams
. For five
years,
1868-1872
, he served as
pupil teacher
at the
British School
,
Llanrwst
, before going to the
Normal College
,
Bangor
,
1873-74
; in
1875
he was appointed
headmaster
of the
Board School
,
Garn Dolbenmaen, Caerns.
In the
mid-1890s
he worked with
Professor
(
Sir
)
John Bretland
Farmer
at the
Royal College of Science
,
London
, where he was
Marshall Scholar
, and from
1897
to
1912
he was
assistant lecturer in Botany
at
Univ. College
,
Bangor
. From
1912-15
he was
Adviser in Agricultural Botany
to the
Board of Agriculture
at
Bangor
when he was invited to the
Chair of Botany
at
Aberystwyth
, retiring in
1925
. While in
London
he started his classic
researches on the Brown Seaweeds — the life cycle of Fucus
— the results of which were published in
The Annals of Botany
(
1896
) and
The Proceedings of the Royal Society
(
1897
). His best known work on Dictyota was completed in
Bangor
and published
1904-05
, the double tides of the
Menai Straits
providing a factor of outstanding significance in his
studies of rhythmic variations in the environment
. It was not till
1921
that he published in the
Annals of Botany
his work on the fertilization process in marine algae, which he discovered simultaneously with
Sauvageau
though he had contributed papers on the topic to the
British Association
at
Bradford
in
1900
and
Dundee
in
1912
.
He was
President of Section K (Botany)
of the
British Assoc. for the Advancement of Science
at
Southampton
in
1925
. He was the
leading expert on the arctic alpine flora of Snowdonia
. From childhood his passion had been
natural history
and
music
. While at
Garn Dolbenmaen
he
wrote operettas
: his best known mature composition were
Aelwyd Angharad
and
Cadifor
with
Llew Tegid
(
Lewis David
Jones
;
DWB
, 494)
as
librettist
. He was eminent as a
musical adjudicator
,
choir conductor
and
conductor of musical festivals
throughout his life. He was prominent in establishing
The Welsh Folk Song Society
in
1906
. He
edited its journal
and was an inspirational figure for many years. He also edited
Y Cerddor
. Jointly with
Arthur
Somerville
he compiled the two volumes of
Welsh Melodies
(
Boosey & Co.
). He was awarded the
D.Sc.
degree of the
University of Wales
for his work on marine algae in
1908
and
D.Mus. (
honoris causa
)
in
1936
. In his retirement he wrote his reminiscences
Adgofion Tri Chwarter Canrif
in four volumes, and
Y Tri Thelynor
. He also wrote
Byd y Blodau
published by
Messrs. Morris and Jones
,
Liverpool
. To the end he continued his
researches into the origins and early development of Welsh Music
.
He was married to
Elizabeth
Jones
, daughter of
Emanuel
and
Ann
Jones
of
Tŷ Lawr
,
Cricieth
, and they had two sons. He d.
15 Nov. 1945
at
Peacedown St. John
,
Bath
,
Somerset
and was buried at
Cricieth
.
Bibliography:
-
Y Faner
, Y Bala, 1842-1992
,
22 Nov, 1945
;
-
Nature
, 1869-
, 157,
30 Mar. 1946
;
-
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London
, London
, 158, pt. 1.
Jan. 1947
;
-
The Liverpool Daily Post
,
19 Nov. 1945
;
-
The Weekly Mail
,
24 Nov. 1945
;
-
[
Y Traethodydd
155, 158-75;
-
Folk Song: Journal of the Welsh Folk-Song Society
, 1978 ff
, 6, 40-6; 18, 3-26].
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Alun Roberts, C.B.E., Ph.D. (1894-1969),
Bangor.
